2015 29th Conference Hong Kong - Asia Beyond Limits

Hong Kong – The Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) successfully held its 29th CACCI Conference in Hong Kong on October 29-30, 2015, with the participation of some 400 delegates composed largely of leading businessmen from 22 Asia-Pacific countries, led by CACCI President Mr. Jemal Inaishvili, Board Member of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and Mr. Conrad Lee, Chairman of the Kowloon Chamber of Commerce (KCC), the local host organization. […]

29th Conference

Asia Beyond Limits

29-30 October 2015, Regal Airport Hotel, Hong Kong

The Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI) successfully held its 29th CACCI Conference in Hong Kong on October 29-30, 2015, with the participation of some 400 delegates composed largely of leading businessmen from 22 Asia-Pacific countries, led by CACCI President Mr. Jemal Inaishvili, Board Member of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and Mr. Conrad Lee, Chairman of the Kowloon Chamber of Commerce (KCC), the local host organization.

Held at the Regal Airport Hotel, this year’s Conference marked the second time that CACCI held its annual gathering in Hong Kong. The first was held in December 1987, when KCC hosted the 36th CACCI Council Meeting. However, this was the first time CACCI members gathered in Hong Kong for a Conference.

Established in 1966, CACCI aims to provide a platform for promoting the vital role of the businessmen in the region, increasing regional business interaction, and enhancing regional economic growth. Towards this end, CACCI has been holding annual meetings and Conferences to enable its members to exchange views on current developments and issues of concern to the business sector. Hong Kong played a significant role in the founding of CACCI, as it served as the venue for the meeting of the CACCI Select Committee for the Establishment of CACCI that drafted the CACCI Constitution.

29th CACCI Conference

Opening Ceremony

This year’s Conference focused on the theme “Asia Beyond Limits”. It aimed at providing another valuable platform for CACCI members and invited experts to share their views on measures that the business sector and governments in the region can undertake to take full advantage of the current opportunities offered not just by markets in the Asia-Pacific region but by countries in other parts of the world as well, thereby enabling them to grow beyond the domestic borders and into the global market.

In his Welcome Remarks during the Opening Ceremony, KCC Chairman Mr. Conrad Lee said that it was KCC’s privilege and honor to host the 29th CACCI Conference in Hong Kong. As this is the first CACCI Conference ever held here, Mr. Lee underscored KCC’s determination to make it one of the most memorable conferences. To ensure delegates will be enlightened by views from different perspectives, the KCC has invited a mix of speakers from diversified backgrounds for each topic, Chairman Lee, adding that ample opportunities have also been provided for delegates to explore business opportunities and cultivate relationship with their counterparts from other countries.

In his Welcome Statement, CACCI President Mr. Jemal Inaishvili thanked the Kowloon Chamber of Commerce for hosting this year’s meeting, thereby giving CACCI members the opportunity to once again visit this vibrant metropolis. It was also an opportune time for all businessmen from CACCI member countries, to strengthen links with their Hong Kong colleagues and explore their future role in the country’s increasingly robust markets. He expressed confidence that holding the CACCI annual gathering in Hong Kong this year will further increase the knowledge of CACCI members about this global city – its economy, its trade and investment potentials, its business and financial sectors, and its people and manpower resources – and help them in their effort to seek and identify business opportunities it offers, as well as establish contact with important decision makers in business and government.

The Keynote Speaker at the Opening Ceremony was Mr. Godfrey Leung Kingkwo, Undersecretary for Commerce and Economic Development of Hong Kong. In his speech, Undersecretary Leung underscored the importance of cooperation and complimentarity among businessmen in the region to enable them to achieve their objective of going beyond their limits, as called for by the Conference theme, adding that there are really no limits, only plateaus. He also cited the advantages of Hong Kong as a trade and investment partner, pointing out that is one of the world’s most business friendly and open cities. It has world-class professionals, strategic location and serves as a gateway to China, with 20% of China’s trade being handled by Hong Kong. It also has Free Trade Agreements with ASEAN countries, and its investment promotion agreements being expanded.

Undersecretary Leung was presented with a Plaque of Appreciation by CACCI President Mr. Inaishvili and KCC Chairman Mr. Lee at the end of his Keynote Speech.

Plenary Sessions

Three Plenary Sessions featured eminent speakers who shared their perspectives on the following timely and relevant issues:

a. One-Belt, One-Road Initiative: Opportunities for Asian Business – This session examined how the One Belt, One Road policy is expected to boost levels of infrastructure development across Central Asia and along the maritime silk road, what its impact will be on the economies in the region that are covered by the initiative, how it can help to support economic growth and trade in these countries, and what opportunities will it offer to businesses in the region. Invited as speakers for this season were: Ms. Christine Ip, CEO, UOB Bank Hong Kong; and Mr. Jianzhong Lu, Deputy President, China Chamber of International Commerce, and Chairman, Tang West Market Group; and Mr. Victor L. L. Chu, Chairman, First Eastern Investment Group; Serving as Session Chairman/Moderator was Ms. Fion Li, Journalist, Bloomberg.
b. Challenges in Investing Overseas – This session featured speakers who shared their views on challenges in investing overseas, including the need for adequate management and systems support, extensive market research involving both the industry, product and local regulations governing foreign investment, realistic assessment of what resource utilization the investment will entail, and factoring of political and foreign exchange risks into the business plan, among others.The speakers included: Mr. Anthony Tam, Managing Director, Mazars CPA; Mr. Fernando L. Gaspar, Chief Administration Officer and Senior Vice President, International Container Terminal Services Inc.; and Mr. Samir Modi, Executive Director, K. K. Modo Group. The session was chaired and moderated by Ms. Maria Perez-Esteve, Counsellor, Council and TNC Division,World Trade Organization.
c. Promoting the Internationalization of SMEs = This session examined ways of assisting SMEs tap into the international market. Invited speakers shared their views on why it is essential for SMEs in this region to accept the reality of the globalization of markets, and how they can enhance their growth by exploiting this new economic environment.Featured as speakers were: Mr. Stephen Liang, Director, product Promotion, Hong Kong Trade Development Council; Mr. David Dali Liu, Partner, JunHe Law Firm; Mr. Bryan Clark, Director, Trade and International Affairs, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; and Mr. Markus Lötzsch, Chief Executive Officer, Nuremberg Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Dr. Naoyuki Yoshino, Dean, Asian Development Bank Institute, delivered his speech through video presentation. Chairing the session was Mr. K. K. Modi, Chairman, Modi Enterprises and CACCI President Emeritus.
d. A special session entitled “Discover Business Opportunities Through CACCI” was held on the afternoon of October 30. This session featured special country presentations by representatives from selected CACCI member-countries. The country presentations were intended to provide the Conference delegates the opportunity to obtain more information about the economic and business conditions and the trade and investment opportunities in the various CACCI member countries, as well as to learn more about the CACCI Primary Members and their activities.

This year, the following organizations made their respective country presentations:
a. Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
b. Georgian National Investment Agency
c. Kowloon Chamber of Commerce
d. Consulate General of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Hong Kong
e. Mr. Peter McMullin, Board Member of ICC Australia and CACCI Vice President, chaired the session.

Luncheon Speaker

Professor Sir James Mirrlees, Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics and Distinguished Professor-at-Large at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, served as the luncheon speaker on October 29. Prof. Mirrlees speech was followed by a presentation of Ms. Bronwyn Dallow, General Manager, Strategic Initiatives, Australian Business Solutions Group, New South Wales Business Chamber (NSWBC) on preparations for the 10th World Chambers Congress to be hosted by NSWBC in 2017 in Sydney.

Mr. Peter Panov, President of the Center for Investment Technology and Trade (CITT), introduced the CITT, an organization established under the umbrella of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation to help companies find partners for their projects both in Russia and worldwide. The CACCI Council, which is the organization’s governing body, held its 85th Council Meeting on the afternoon of October 30, 2015, to discuss the activities and other internal matters/policies pertaining the Confederation. Among the agenda items discussed were the following:

Admission of New Members

The CACCI Council announced the admission of one Primary Member from Azerbaijan, and 20 new Lifetime Special Members from six countries – 12 from Bangladesh, two each from Hong Kong, Georgia, and Nepal, and one each from the Philippines and Singapore.

New Primary Member

The newest CACCI Primary Member is the Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Established in 1922, the Azerbaijan CCI is a local organization of businesses and companies in Baku with the intention to develop and further the interests of local companies and businesses in Azerbaijan. Members of the Chamber are usually international and local operating companies, such as law firms, property developers, tourism companies, airlines, manufacturing companies, import and export businesses, banks, finance companies, legal advisors, and IT and electronics manufacturers, among others.

New Lifetime Special Members

The 20 newly admitted Lifetime Special Members included the following:

CACCI endorsed a Policy Statement on Rules of Origin. In the paper, CACCI urged governments to re-double their efforts to find a pathway forward to conclude the current Doha Round of WTO negotiations and ratify as quickly as possible the Trade Facilitation Agreement negotiated in 2014. Ratifying the Agreement, according to CACCI, will be a major step toward improving the movement of goods through global supply chains, adding that it will also create investment opportunities as improved trade related infrastructure is upgraded in each nation.

CACCI, however, acknowledged that the negotiation process can be arduous and that many compromises are necessary to be able to reach an acceptable outcome for all parties to any negotiation. As each negotiation is with a different counterparty, despite many agreements following a common template and covering common issues, the final results can still differ in terms of “landing zone” of ambition as well as specific details on market access, coverage and timetables for reform, CACCI noted Hence, in order to attain consistency and harmonization within these agreements so that they can all eventually be drawn together inside a WTO agreement, CACCI endorsed the Policy Statement on Non-Preferential Rules of Origin developed by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and called on its members to circulate this to their governments.

CACCI members also urged governments party to bilateral and regional Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) negotiations must instruct their negotiators to ensure that their regional and bilateral agreements harmonise Rules of Origin by following wherever possible the provisions and procedures of the Revised Kyoto Convention (2006), and embracing the principles of harmonisation contained in the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (2013).

MOU Signing Between CACCI and the Ukrainian CCI

During the Council Meeting, CACCI and the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining possible areas of cooperation between the two organizations. CACCI President Mr. Jemal Inaishvili and UCCI President Mr. Gennadiy Chyzhykov signed the MOU on behalf of their respective organizations.

Gala Dinner Award Presentations

During the Gala Dinner on October 29, CACCI presented the 1st CACCI Hydropower and Clean Energy Award to ESNA Power (Pvt) Ltd. from Sri Lanka.Honorable Mention Award was given to Chilime Hydropower Company Limited from Nepal. Initiated by CACCI Asian Council on Water, Energy and Environment (ACWEE), the 1st Asia-Pacific Hydropower and Clean Energy Excellence Award is presented annually by CACCI to an institution that has contributed significantly to the sustainable promotion, support and development of hydropower and clean energy in the Asia Pacific region.

Four CACCI members were also presented CACCI Medallions by President Jemal Inaishvili in recognition of their consistent and active participation in CACCI meetings and activities. These included Mrs. Teresita Yujuico from the Philippines, and the three members from Hong Kong, namely, Dr. Leslie Wong, Ms. Weena Lee, and Ms. Cezarine Lee.

Next CACCI Conference

The venue of the 30th CACCI Conference in 2016, which marks the 50th Anniversary of CACCI, will be Taipei, Taiwan, with the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) as the host organization. The exact dates and Conference venue will be determined after consultation with the host organization.